Conway Ancestors Surname Derivation
Undated – Ireland, Conway the anglicized form of several Irish names such as
MacConnmhaigh, meaning “head Smasher” or MacConnbhuidhe “The Yellow Hound”
Gaelic Conway said to be a sept of the O’Brien clan of county Mayo and Sligo
The (Mac) Conway sept belonged to counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary.
Pre 7th century – Olde English “Cam yea” meaning crooked river, various streams being so
named in English West Country in medieval times.
1154-1189 - John Conway, Esq. of Potrithan, county of Flint, whose son Sir Hugh Conway
received his knighthood upon the coronation of Elizabeth queen and consort of King
Henry II of whose interests he had supported and was master of the wardrobe.
1215 – Scottish - Coneway hamlet of Conway in parish of Beautly, anglicisation of Gaelic
“Coinmheadth” which translates as free quarter
1268 – Chartulary of Glastonbury,
Somerset, during reign of
King Henry III, known as
“the Frenchman” (12161272) John de Conweye
1360 – Ireland, the Annals of the
Four Masters, records the
death of one Gillangnaer
O’Connmhaigh
1381 - Sir Henry Conway, 5th year
of reign of Richard II
1406 – Castle Conwy by the river
Conwy on the north coast
of Wales , first mentioned
150 years after first English recording of the Conway surname. Built by Edward I
between 1283-1287 as an English fortification to allow supplies by sea and protection
against Welsh tribes and sea-faring enemies. Charles I sold it to Edward Conway in
1627 for $100 and Edward’s son inherited it in 1631. John Williams, the Archbishop of
York, repaired and garrisoned it on behalf of the king during the English Civil War.
With the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660, the castle was returned
to the Earl of Conway, but five years later, Earl Edward Conway stripped it of its iron
and lead and sold it off. During the 18th and 19th centuries it was owned by a series of
families and finally fell to the town of Conwy. By 1968 its ruins were declared a World
Heritage Site of the “Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd.” Today its
partial restoration draws over 120,000 visitors a year and is a major economic boost to
the region.
1509-1547 - Edward Conway, Esq., usher of the chamber for King Henry VIII, who married
Anne, heiress and daughter of Richard Burdett of Arrow, Warwick. From this point on
the English Conway family’s principal seat was at Ragley Hall, Warwick.
1537-1553 - Sir John Conway, Knight, who being in the great expedition to Scotland in the
first year of the reign of Edward VI and distinguished himself so highly as to be made a
banneret, married Catherine, daughter of Sr. Ralph Verney, knight, and was succeded
by his son at his death sometime in the reign of Edward VI.
1586 Sir John Conway, made governor of Ostend, by Robert, Earl of Leicester, he married
Elene, daughter of Sir Fulke Greville of Beauchamps Court in the County of Warwick,
and dying in the 1st year of the reign of James I was succeeded by his son.
1587 Capt. Jenkin Conway granted Seigniory of Killorglin in Kerry County, Ireland. The
Killorglin Castle had been built in 1215 by Maurice Fitzgerald but was in ruins; Jenkin
Conway built a new Conway Castle there in 1613 during the reign of Elizabeth I. This
was a reward for services during the Nine Years Irish Wars (Robert O’Neil) wherein
Jenkin Conway
and his
brothers Hugh,
Edward and
William joined
Sir William
Herbert, Sir
Edward Dering
and Robert
Blennerhasset
fighting for the
English crown.
The principal
Conway
holdings were
in England, although said to have descended from an ancient Welsh family. The
Killorglin holdings were inherited by Robert Blennerhasset in 1660 upon his marriage
to Avice Conway. It then descended through the Blennerhasset family until 1795 when
Harman Blennerhasset sold it to 1st Baron Ventry.
Remaining wall of Conway Castle, Killorglin, Ireland, built by Jenkin Conway c 1613 in ruins by
1887, now part of a beer garden.
1623-1625 – Lord Edward Vincent Conway, Baron Conway of Ragley in 1624, Viscount Conway
in 1627, and Viscount Killultagh in 1627, served as secretary of state in reign of James
I, 495 letters in Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series of the Reign of James I.
Eldest son of Sir John Conway, governor of Ostend, and Ellen, daughter of Sir Fulke
Greville of Beauchamp Court. Married Dorothy Anne Tracy, daughter of Sir John Tracy
of Tedington, Gloucestershire and widow of Edmund Bray. They had three sons and
four daughters. He died on a diplomatic mission to Lyons, France in1630.
1594-1655 – Edward, 2nd Viscount Conway succeeded his father in titles and land.
Unsuccessfully he commanded Charles I’s forces at the Battle of Newburn in 1640. He
became Privy Council of Ireland, Marshal of the Army in Ireland. He was briefly
imprisoned when implicated in the plot by Edmund Waller and others to seize London
for the king. Interested in English literature, friends with Sir John Beaumont, Michael
Drayton, Ben Jonson, John Donne, and Sir John Suckling. In 1643 his London library
contained 5,000 or more volumes and his Lisnegarvey library in County Antrim,
Ireland, contained 8,000 to 9,900 books and manuscripts.
1630-1655 – Sir Thomas Conway born Arrow, Warwickshire, England, 2nd son of Lord Edward
Vincent (Conway) (1564-1630) and Dorothy Anne Tracy, and brother of 2nd Viscount
Edward Conway. In the 1624 election Lord Edward Vincent Conway exerted influence
with Lord Warden Zouche and Thomas Conway was seated in the House of Commons
representing the port of Rye. His elder brother represented Warwick. One account
said that Thomas died Westminster, London, England; another account said he died in
America. He received lands in Virginia, married Elizabeth unknown last name. His son
Dennis Conway married Anne Routt and settled on lands in Northumberland, Virginia.
Ragley Hall, Arrow, Warwickshire,
England
Parish Church of Arrow,
Warwickshire, England, home of the
Hereford Conways.
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford,
Warwickshire, England. Dates to
1210 and built on site of Saxon
monastery. Stratford’s oldest
building on River Avon, baptism of
William Shakespeare, burial site for
William Shakespeare and his wife
Ann Hathaway.
Dennis Conway in America continued at the Wiccomico River in Virginia